Suspect In Chase Pleads Guilty To Burglary Charge

A 19-year-old Flemington, N.J., man was returned to Northampton County Prison this week to await a pre-sentence investigation after he entered a guilty plea in a bizarre police chase in March.

Robert J. Sexton Jr. pleaded guilty to burglary, for breaking into Star Pontiac in the 25th Street Shopping Center in Palmer Township on March 15. Charges of recklessly endangering another person, criminal trespass, theft, receiving stolen property and resisting arrest were withdrawn in the plea.

Police were near the dealership investigating a fight when they saw Sexton drive through the fence and toward the road. A chase - that rarely exceeded 40 mph - then ensued along Route 248.

One of the tires on the car he had taken from the dealership went flat, but Sexton, with a large number of police cars behind him, didn't stop the car until the wheel fell off the car near Palmerton in Carbon County.